The present invention relates generally to protective face masks, and more particularly to face masks primarily for dentistry practice.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,423 for Face Shield/Mask Combination issued to Gazzara et al. on Apr. 19, 1994, there is provided for use during medical procedures for the protection of medical personnel who, during such procedures, are subject to blood and other bodily fluids coming into contact with their face, a suitable face mask to obviate such contact, it being explained that such contact is dangerous because of the potential presence of the deadly AIDS virus or other harmful pathogens.
Thus, in dentistry practice, a face mask is used to obviate disease transmission between a patient and dentist, and the dentist, the user of the face mask, will dispose of the face mask between dental procedures to obviate disease transmission between patients. To facilitate the use of the face mask, used without exception by the dentist, the elimination of the discomfort of the elastic ear loops is the thrust of U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,787 for Eyeglasses With Mask Support Attachment Means issued to Peter J. Zegarelli, a co-inventor of the present invention, on Jun. 13, 1995, and exemplifies the prior art effort concerned with the face mask for the dentist""s use.
Underlying the present invention is the recognition that often the dental procedure provided the patient will entail the use of light-emitting devices, including lasers, as exemplified by the commercially available EXcimer laser, dental light cure bonding lights, and dental bleaching lights, in the use of which the administering dentist uses for his/her protection against eye damage eye wear, including goggles and eyeglasses, equipped with light filters, which are typically an applied coating of a range of colors, e.g., purple, green, orange, yellow, light blue, grey, brown, and pink, on glass. The filters absorb the frequency of light in accordance with the colors thereof and in so doing contribute to preventing light impingement on the eyes of the dentist behind the filters.
In a contemplated end use, an EXcimer laser, or equivalent laser, is now in popular use for soft tissue surgery in dental procedures and during such use a dentist prudently uses goggles with light-absorbing filters to obviate eye damage. Heretofore, such protection was provided only to the dentist and the patient, although in the environment of and thus similarly subjected to the harmful effects to his/her eye sight by ambient emitted high intensity light was without protection.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a face mask affording protection to the patient, thus addressing a shortcoming of the prior art.
More particularly, it is an object to provide a dental patient""s face mask affording effective protection against emitted light in close proximity to the patient.